November 20, 18th year of Mingwen, the imperial capital, the imperial palace, the imperial study

At this time, it was raining, the wind of early winter, wrapped in drizzle, although it was only afternoon, but it was dark outside, and the handwriting could not be seen clearly, so the door was closed, and the candles were on, and the candles were faltering, flickering and dimming.

The emperor, who was reviewing the recital, stopped writing thoughtfully and said: "Come on, pass on Liu Wuyong of Hanlin and ask him to come in and see me!" ”

"Slaves obey!" There was a eunuch who was waiting outside, and he said yes outside, and then withdrew.

The emperor wanted to approve it again, but when he picked up the pen, he suddenly felt dizzy, and his face turned pale, he quickly gritted his teeth and held on, and after a while, he eased up.

After resting for a while, I made up my mind, and opened a book from my desk, which had already been marked, but it was a major event that reported the drought and flood disasters in Yanyang Province.

“…… Chen Yanyang Provincial Political Envoy Tan Fanshen panicked and apologized, last year the province was drought, the autumn grain harvest was cut off, this spring when the green and yellow were not connected, there have been a large number of victims, and this year, there was a big flood, the main river in the province burst 11 places, six counties and 19 counties were affected, now there have been chaos in all directions, a large number of people flow into other provinces, the victims are everywhere, sleeping in the wilderness, now it has entered the winter, under the severe frost, sometimes there is a cold and hungry death thrown into the wilderness, and after a few days, it is even more harsh, there have been a small group of thieves to rob recently, if it becomes the climate, there is a rebellion of attacking the city and plundering the county, in order to prevent the great change, the minister dared to ask the emperor to decree that he would open a warehouse and release grain to survive the difficulties! ”

Seeing this, the emperor's gaze jumped. I want to give instructions. But his face turned pale again, and he couldn't sit still for a while, so he threw himself on the table.

"Your Majesty? Emperor? Guan Wei, the chief eunuch of the waiting place outside, immediately noticed it and hurriedly came in.

"Don't, I'm just dizzy for a while, you wait for the cabinet minister Yin Li to come over." The emperor barely held his body. But his heart was already desolate, and he said, "Also, how is the prince now?" ”

"Back to the emperor, the prince is very good, he has a meal at noon, and he also eats two taels of meat, and the food is very fragrant." Guan Wei, the chief eunuch, showed a hint of a smile. said: "The prince is wise. At the age of five, he can already read and write, and he is reading the Three Character Classic! ”

"Yes, I can already recite dozens of sentences, and I only recited them to me the day before yesterday, what a good son of mine!" The emperor said with joy and sorrow, he did not continue to read the chapter, but drank some ginseng soup, but did not dare to drink more. He lay down on the bed, and although it was warm, the emperor still shivered.

Cabinet Minister Yoon Lee was summoned, but was blocked out of the imperial study and was not immediately received. I immediately hesitated in my heart. He stood outside the door, sheltering from the rain. Thinking back to political affairs, he took a step, and then remembered the emperor's body, and suddenly turned pale.

At this time, I heard the rumor, and the cabinet minister Yin Li hurriedly went in, and when he got inside, he saw the emperor lying on the bed, and his heart sank, and he knelt down and said: "Minister, cabinet minister Yin Li greets!" ”

"Yin Li, you were originally the head of the household department, and now you are also in charge of the household department, take a look at this chapter!" The emperor was on the warm bed, and said, "No need to be polite, this is a big matter, you sit and watch it carefully." ”

"Yes!" Yin Li bowed his head and kowtowed, got up again, took this recital, and looked at it carefully, in fact, he had seen this recital several times, and at this time he wanted to play it to the emperor, and he had to look at it carefully, but beside the emperor, he saw the emperor lying there, weak and weak, and his heart was sour, and he almost burst into tears.

The emperor has been on the throne for 16 years, he has always been gentle and elegant, and he is very generous to his courtiers, and there are few killings in the political arena. ”

"I know that I don't add to the crime, but what can I do to cure this plague? Let's talk about a charter. ”

"Your Majesty, this disaster is actually four things, the first is to exempt Yanyang from saving money and grain, and not to levy taxes, then the people are just in exile, but if taxes are still levied at this time, it will immediately be the officials who force the people to rebel."

"If it is honest, it is the principle of seeking the country." The Emperor said, "Go on! ”

In fact, if the pain accumulates too much, there must be a factor to break out, and at this time, whoever bumps into it will be unlucky, and of course the emperor knows this truth.

"Since it is a flood and drought, it is also necessary to repair the river defense, but this is a major policy."

"The third is to bring in grain to help the victims, which is the biggest effort, but there are two points, the first is where the grain comes from, and the second is to solve the problem of officials along the way."

"You are a cabinet minister, and you have always known how much silver and how much rice does this cost?"

"Your Majesty, the provinces originally had spare grain, but this disaster relief, naturally far from enough, the current situation, even if the order is ordered to put the warehouse, it is already great to be able to support a month, not counting the embezzlement of disaster relief silver and two illegal officials, the calculation of the pre-ministers, there must be 1.2 million stone of grain, in order to help the victims, and to prepare for the spring famine, and wait for the summer wheat to be harvested and survive the disaster."

"The grain is 1,200,000 stones, but what about the silver?"

"One and two hundred thousand, too."

The emperor was silent, 1,200,000 stone of grain, 1,200,000 silver!

At this time, tea was boiling outside, and there was some sound of boiling flowers and some water vapor, and the emperor asked, "Hubu, how much silver is left?" ”

"Back to the emperor, three million six hundred and eighty-four thousand two hundred and twenty."

There was silence again, the southwest used soldiers, a year to consume millions of taels of silver, this is still saving, if you want to increase the scale of suppression, it is doubled, but at this time, there was a drought and flood, this time, the court's silver money is empty, silent for a while, the emperor said: "What else?" ”

"This fourth point is naturally killing, and in this situation, it is better to kill by mistake than to let go, and not to make it public, if there is a seed of rebellion, you must kill a hundred people, and you must not hesitate." Yin Li sat with his eyes focused.

The emperor listened, nodded and said, "Yes, you go back first, make a constitution, discuss it with the cabinet, and then come and discuss it with me...... Don't care what others say about you, I know you very well, and take care of state affairs! ”

Yin should have said: "Yes! ”

Seeing that the emperor didn't speak again, he paused, saluted, and withdrew.

At this time, the eunuch had already come in with Liu Wuyong, a scholar-in-waiting.

Bachelor of Waiting, is the fourth grade of the official, configured in the cabinet and the Hanlin Academy, the task is the revision of literature and history, editing and review, which is the bachelor of the academy, and there is also a companion to the emperor to read and study or give lectures for the prince, etc., the official position is not too high, but the status is not to be underestimated.

Liu Wuyong came in, knelt down, gave him a seat, and said: "It is important for the emperor to take care of the dragon's body, and you can't be too busy with political affairs." ”

"I know, I know." The emperor said with a wry smile, how could he not know that this kind of seemingly insipid greeting was actually intentional, the crown prince was only five years old, and the emperor had to hold on.

If it weren't for the rebellion in the southwest, and the floods and droughts that caused the people to revolt, he wouldn't want to cultivate, but now that the big things are gradually rising, he has to do it reluctantly, otherwise, once the southwest is eroded to the end, or even the barbarian Si Jianguo, the threat to the imperial court will be greater, if there is any more chaos inside...... The Emperor shuddered.

The emperor calmed down and asked: "You are a bachelor of Hanlin and are familiar with the classics, what do you think of Li Rui's original intention of benevolence and propriety, is it in line with the teachings of the sage?" ”

Liu Wuyong has already read this book, thought about it for a while, and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, the way of the sage, just like the boundless world, the breadth of tolerance, the depth of the mystery, how can my generation know, of course Li Rui can't do it, however, this book also has its merits, benevolence and courtesy, and it is also in line with the teachings of the sage, it is just a matter of outline, and it has not yet been clarified, but Li Rui is only twenty years old this year, and his academics are a little impure, which is also a matter of course. ”

Liu Wuyong meant that he was already tolerant of Li Rui, and secretly had some praise.

When the emperor heard this, he didn't say anything, he felt a little wrong, and was about to think carefully and distinguish it, but he was dizzy again, interrupting his thinking, and when he eased up, he said tiredly: "Well, what you said makes sense, this person is still talented, and he is good at both civil and military affairs. ”

Liu Wuyong bowed down and replied, "Obey the order!" ”

The emperor was so tired that he couldn't think anymore, waved his hand, and Liu Wuyong retreated, at this time, the wind and rain were a little bit, the early winter was cold, and the black sky was in the sky, Liu Wuyong was walking, and suddenly there was some trance and dazedness, and he felt inexplicably a little cold and ominous, he had read the book of sages, and knew some qi people.

A generation of the country's view of the number of gas, the official and the people's spirit synthesized a gas number, the official spirit is now naturally needless to say, the court for a hundred years, corruption has become the rule, the people's morale, more and more people have lost their land, this grievance is also condensing, the founding of the country for a hundred years, it is almost to the peak of the time, no matter how you go, it is going downhill, but now is not the time.

Liu Wuyong is not a foolish person, but he thinks that it is just a slow decline, as long as he passes the current threshold, there will be at least more than a hundred years, thinking about it, his eyes became firm.

He went to the cabinet and prepared to draft the order, but it was actually a trivial matter for him.